Officers from the RSPCA are appealing for information after a swan was shot with an air rifle

The bird, which was taken to the RSPCA’s Stapeley Grange Animal Centre near Nantwich, had to be put to sleep to prevent further suffering.

It is the second swan shot in the area in space of two weeks.

A concerned member of the public found the bird with a large wound above his leg in a field in Well Lane, Weaverham. They contacted the RSPCA, and Animal Collection Officer Lauren Bradshaw collected the bird.

She said: “The swan had been grounded in a field and I could easily see the wound above his leg. I took him to a vet, where he was x-rayed. This showed that there was an air gun pellet embedded in his body.

“The wound looked fresh so he is likely to have been shot sometime that day.”

This incident comes two weeks after a swan was fatally shot at Middlewich canal. An x-ray of the swan showed four shotgun pellets in its body, as well as an air rifle pellet that had gone through the back of the swan’s head and had become lodged in the bird’s jaw.

Lauren added: “It is very distressing to think that people take pleasure in causing harm to these beautiful and defenseless birds. These are deliberate acts of cruelty and we would appeal to people’s consciences not to commit these offences.”

Anyone with any information about either incident should contact the RSPCA on 0300 123 8018.